Pakistan v England series 2012 live on Sky Sports

January 16, 2012   ·   0 Comments

After 125 years and 915 matches, the England cricket team will make history when they play a Test series on neutral soil as they face Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, live on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports will broadcast comprehensive live coverage of the tour including all three Tests, four one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals, beginning with the first Test on 17 January from the Dubai International Stadium.  The daily hours of play in the UK are from 6am – 1pm.

David Gower will host the coverage alongside Ian Botham, David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton,Waqar Younis, Ramiz Raja & Aamer Sohail. Charles Colvile will present a live highlights show in the afternoon on Sky Sports which will be repeated later in the evenings, however there will be no terrestrial highlights of this tour.

Pakistan and England will face each the first time since the infamous 2010 spot fixing scandal which ended with three Pakistani players sent to prison. Pakistan have spent the last 18 months repairing their battered reputation, and performances on the pitch have gone a considerable way to helping achieve that.

Although England have risen to the top of the world rankings, a resurgent Pakistan have won as many matches – six – as Andrew Strauss’s side in 2011.  Speaking ahead of the series, Strauss said : “We’re very aware that this tour against Pakistan is going to be a very strong challenge for us,”

“The spot-fixing stuff is something we’re desperately keen to move on from,” he added. “It’s time to just concentrate on cricket.”

Strauss’s men have won their last six Test series, beating Bangladesh twice, Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka and India, with their last series defeat coming against the West Indies in February 2009.

Team Squads

Pakistan (from): Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman

England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Steve Davies, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara

Sky Sports Broadcast Schedule

Jan 17-21: 1st Test, Dubai
Jan 25-29: 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi
Feb 3-7: 3rd Test, Dubai

Feb 13: 1st One Day International, Abu Dhabi
Feb 15: 2nd One Day International, Abu Dhabi
Feb 18: 3rd One Day International, Dubai
Feb 21: 4th One Day International, Dubai

Feb 23: 1st T20, Dubai
Feb 25: 2nd T20, Dubai
Feb 27: 3rd T20, Abu Dhabi

Tags: Andrew Strauss, David Gower, David Lloyd, Dubai, Dubai International Stadium, England, Ian Botham, Misbah-ul Haq, Nasser Hussain, Pakistan, Sky Sports, UAE